Carolyn Mott Ford (Children's Literature)
The author chronicles the life story of George Washington Carver in verse, opening with the poem, "Out of 'Slave's Ransom'" wherein Carver is described as a "puny black baby" who was "convulsive with fever" and "shook by the whooping cough." Many of the poems are based upon the accomplishments of George Washington Carver, which were astounding, but others offer insight into the lesser-known aspects of his life. This approach works: to go beyond the usual focus on his extraordinary gifts and appreciate the man who, with grace and faith, made his way out of the depths of poverty, over racial boundaries, and through the walls of ignorance with his gentle, sometimes plodding and always relentless quest for knowledge. His expansive mind was extraordinary, as was his character. "House Ways and Means" illustrates both of these attributes. As Carver extols the benefits of peanuts in testimony before the committee, he tastes one and Rep. Tilson from Connecticut asks, "Do you want a watermelon to go with that?" Unshaken, Carver responds, indicating that if Tilson wants dessert that's fine, but then he calmly continues with his expert testimony. The book is illustrated with historical photos. 2001, Front Street, $16.95. Ages 12 up.

Susie Wilde (Children's Literature)
Marilyn Nelson unites poetry and biography in Carver: A Life in Poems, a Newbery-honor book. These are not simple verses, but intricate expressions of Carver's enigmatic and complex personality. Carver was driven by a desire to know and he paid for his education by becoming "a wizard with a washboard,/a genie of elbow grease and suds...the best washerwoman in town." Nelson writes of his reactions to lynchings and injustice, his relationship with Booker T. Washington and the success that came from his curiosity and ambition to do right by his people. How fitting that poetry is used to convey the way Carver married art and science to reach other human beings! These fifty-nine vignettes give glimpses that leave us wondering and seeking more information, a perfect representation of a man who did the same. Whether it's changing perspectives, reflecting life, explaining emotions, or intriguing with images, story delivered through verse clears a path to appreciation and understanding. 2001, Front Street, $16.95. Ages 12 up.

CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 2002)
No doubt for many young adults, George Washington Carver's name brings to mind only a spare remembrance from a history book or a photograph on a Black History Month poster. Some may be fortunate to have deeper knowledge of this greatly gifted man best known for his agricultural work as a botanist. Carver was also a painter, a musician, and a teacher and researcher at Tuskegee Institute during Booker T. Washington's tenure. Carver was committed to improving the lives of others, especially poor Black farmers in the South. In this exquisite book of poems, Marilyn Nelson creates an extraordinary biography from more than the dates, events, relationships, and accomplishments in the life of George Washington Carver. She conjures his powerful presence as she writes of a life centered and made whole by deep religious faith, a passion for nature, a hunger for learning, and a heart of unmatched kindness from the time Carver was a small boy. In these poems, she gives voice to Carver and others in his life, and even to the world of nature where he found so much fascination and pleasure. The result leaves readers feeling they know Carver from the inside out. Honor Book, CCBC Coretta Scott King Author Award Discussion CCBC categories: Poetry; The Arts; Biography and Autobiography; Historical People, Places, and Events. 2001, Front Street, 103 pages, $16.95. Ages 12 and older.

M. Jerry Weiss (Parents Guide, Fall 2001 (Vol. 4, No. 1))
This biography of George Washington Carver, told completely in poems, has been nominated for the National Book Award. Nelson shows the many achievements of this great man in science, art, music, and as a teacher. In 1896, Booker T. Washington invited Carver to start the agricultural department at the all-black-staffed Tuskegee Institute, where he spent the rest of his days. Carver had his ups and downs with Mr. Washington, but he stayed because he wanted to help black farmers. He received many letters throughout his life, people heaping praise upon him and thanking him for helping them. 2001, Front Street, $16.95. Ages 12 up.

Deborah Stevenson (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, September 2001 (Vol. 55, No. 1))
While one wouldn’t really term George Washington Carver forgotten, one might consider him too often reduced, historically speaking, to a caption-sized contribution involving peanuts and just maybe the Tuskegee Institute. A sequence of poems (most initially published elsewhere, appearing here in chronological sequence so as to suggest biography) occasionally punctuated with historical photographs would seem an odd counteractant to that sad fate, but it’s startlingly effective. In her free-verse lyrics, Nelson (herself the daughter of a Tuskegee Airman) employs a variety of perspectives: an astonished teacher, a grateful student, an envious colleague, the regretful subject of his broken-off courtship, and, obliquely, Carver himself. Together, these voices evoke a man of genius, whose gift for understanding and intellectual curiosity were profound and enduring; a man of faith, who considered the botanical intricacies he uncovered to be proof of the Creator; a man of commitment, who consciously chose to turn his brilliance to agriculture in order to best help his struggling people trying to eke out a post-slavery life in southern fields amid lynchings and grinding poverty. The poems are rich with people, with academic politics, even with economics, giving an unmatchable picture not only of Carver’s life but also of his impact within his time as well as in history. This is often sophisticated writing and readers may be inspired to seek out a Carver biography to fill in some gaps, but the book has a resonance and heart that will gratify the knowledgeable and naïve alike (and that also invites reading aloud). This will open many readers’ eyes not just to Carver but to brilliance and the paths it may take. An alphabetical index of poems is included. Review Code: R* -- Denotes books of special distinction. (c) Copyright 2001, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2001, Front Street, 103p, $16.95. Grades 7 up.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Spring 2002)
A series of fifty-nine poems portrays George Washington Carver as a private, scholarly man of great personal faith and social purpose. Nelson fills in the trajectory of Carver's life with details of the cultural and political contexts that shaped him even as he shaped history. As individual works, each poem stands as a finely wrought whole of such high caliber than one can hardly name a favorite, never mind the best. Category: Nonfiction-Literature. 2001, Front, 103pp, $16.95. Ages 14 to 18. Rating: 1: Outstanding, noteworthy in style, content, and/or illustration.

Evelyn Romig (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 14, No. 4))
What a wonderful book! First, it defies easy classification. It is part biography, complete with moving photographs and background notes. It is part poetry, and the poems are constructed in a variety of forms presenting a whole range of emotions and experiences. And it is part tribute to the genius George Washington Carver and the African-American experience he embodied. The familiar elements of the story are all here: up from slavery, largely self educated, teaching at Tuskegee, the influence of Booker T. Washington, his development of the peanut. But there is so much more--the poems allow the human dimension of the story to prevail: his ties to his brother, friendship, his deep faith, and his legacy of love. This volume is a must for every school library, for it shows the unity of learning and the artificiality of thinking that disciplines are separate and unrelated. Here the science class and the literature class can meet in happy and productive conversation. Nonfiction (811), Highly Recommended. Grades 4 and up. 2001, Front Street, 103p, $16.95. Ages 9 up.

Amy S. Pattee (VOYA, August 2001 (Vol. 24, No. 3))
Most historical figures are chronicled according to their fame or their accomplishments with the examination of their private lives limited to exceptional anecdotes. Thus, most readers know George Washington Carver as merely the peanut product inventor and as a key faculty member of the Tuskeegee Institute. Poet Nelson challenges this typical biography format with her more deeply focused profile. Her collage of poems echoes the irregular regularity of Carver's life--the child of enslaved parents who was raised by a white couple, a chemist who loved flowers and nature, and a scientist with a contemplative spirit. A man who shunned high fashion, his clothing is described as neat but threadbare. Although the poems, written as observations and musings by those whose lives Carver touched, cannot be considered with the same credibility as a collection of primary sources, Nelson allows readers to see Carver as contemporaries might have seen him, with the "light of genius / through the dusky window of his skin." Footnote time lines and photographs of Carver and his effects fill in the barest facts of his life, framing the poems in a historic space. This poetry biography is not a choice for the fact-hunting student; however, it will captivate readers with its uncommon sensitivity and soul. Photos. Source Notes. VOYA CODES: 5Q 2P M J (Hard to imagine it being any better written; For the YA with a special interest in the subject; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2001, Front Street, 103p, $16.95. Ages 11 to 15.